It's always been about collaboration, somebody can write a song, but until everybody puts their contribution in it isn't really a Yes song. We're not trying to echo the past; we're carrying the spirit of Yes forward and turning it into something new.
The Moth has been long-awaited, having first been announced by Townsend over a decade ago. The wait was in large part due to the scope of the project: with multiple choirs and orchestras from all over the world being part of the recording, it is by far the most ambitious record Townsend has ever assembled.
I bought the nima CDthe one with the clear lenticular case that could wiggle the cybernetic album art designed by artist Cam de Leonwhen I was 12 years old at a long-forgotten record store in Whitewater, Wisconsin, where I grew up. I was, at that time, on whatever level of consciousness is associated with being in middle school and sitting at the lunch table that hosted Magic: The Gathering gameslevel one, I guess.
"Yeah, I don't know about that... reverence for fist-f**king?," amusingly referencing "Stinkfist" from Tool's 1996 album Ænima, eliciting raucous laughter from Steve-O and his co-host Skinny Vinny.